Hires & Promotions: Kaya, Coca Cola, Swiggy, 9X Media

Samyukta Ganesh Iyer Joins Kaya As VP & Head Of Marketing

Samyukta Ganesh Iyer, who recently stepped down as Head of Marketing at Baskin Robbins, has joined Kaya as VP and Head of Marketing. She will also be a member of the management committee of the organisation.

Iyer is a Cannes award-winning marketing professional with 14 years of experience in sales and marketing across F&B, Beauty, Healthcare and Paints.

She has, in the past, worked on and successfully contributed to driving the businesses of globally renowned brands such as Asian Paints, Frooti, Appy, Digene, Vaseline, Lakme and  Baskin Robbins. 

Coca Cola Strengthens Leadership Team 

Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana, as Vice President Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. Devyani is a new addition to Coca-Cola’s leadership team for the region to further drive the Company’s purpose-driven approach. 

Devyani has over 25 years of work experience in government and corporate affairs, strategic business advocacy, risk management, communications, CSR and sustainability. She has successfully developed effective strategies focused on maximizing impact in the region on infrastructure, environmental, social and governance, and trade, resulting in business profitability, increased footprint, and expanded manufacturing operations for domestic and export markets. She has also led advocacy, internal, external, and brand communications initiatives that have delivered positive business outcomes and contributed to the engagement of the organizations and teams she served. Over a span of two and a half decades, she has collaborated with multiple stakeholders and engaged in thought leadership sessions to establish sustainable programs.

Commenting on the appointment, Sanket Ray – President, India and Southwest Asia, said “I am delighted to welcome Devyani on this exciting charter to deepen Coca-Cola’s engagement in the region as she joins the leadership team to spearheads the practice in the region. Devyani brings a wealth of experience in advocating for policies, legislation, trade agreements and regulations. Her contributions will augment our belief in our purpose even stronger and serve as an acceleration of the work that was already underway.” 

Formerly, Devyani was Director of Public Affairs for India, Nepal, Bhutan for Caterpillar India, leading Caterpillar and its subsidiaries’ work in government/corporate affairs, public relations and communications, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability for India, Nepal and Bhutan regions. Before joining Caterpillar India, Devyani led portfolios with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations (UN) in India, as well as The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF).

Swiggy's COO Vivek Sunder To Step Down 

Reports have confirmed that the chief operating officer of Swiggy, Vivek Sunder will be stepping down from his role.

Sunder had been responsible for scaling key businesses of the food delivery app, including food delivery and its foray into grocery.

According to reports, Swiggy’s Chief Executive Sriharsha Majety will take over from Sunder, who will transition out by October.

In an email sent to employees, Majety wrote, “Sunder who oversees its food delivery business, decided to pursue interests outside of the company,”

”I will be directly overseeing the marketplace business with immediate effect. We have been discussing this for a while now, and over the course of the past few weeks, have been planning the way forward as well,” he wrote in the email.

“Sunder played a pivotal role in expanding the geographical footprint of the marketplace business taking Swiggy beyond 500+ cities, and later rallied the organisation to drive a step change in the unit economics of the marketplace business. He played a key role in the company's on-ground operations during the Covid-19 lockdown phases, he added," he added.

9X Media Appoints Ajay Bedi As VP, Sales & Branch Head For North Region

9X Media has appointed Ajay Bedi as Vice President Sales & Branch Head for North Region. With a career spanning over 18 years, Ajay has rich experience in New Business Development, Sales & Marketing, Strategic Alliances, Key Account Management and Team Management. 

Prior to joining 9X Media, Ajay Bedi has worked across many reputed media brands including Colors (Viacom18), UTV Bindass, Zee Entertainment and Radio Mirchi. His expertise in accelerating revenue growth in highly competitive environments, developing new markets and excellent client engagement has captured potential revenue earnings for the channel/s. 

At 9X Media, Ajay Bedi would be responsible for leading the FCT Sales/ Brand Solutions Team to deliver revenue targets. He will help brands to connect with their consumers by offering innovative brand properties with better shelf lives. Ajay will also mentor and advice the team in building new relationships with various industries which will successfully contribute towards the overall revenue and growth of the Network. 

Commenting on Ajay Bedi’s appointment, Alok Nair – Chief Revenue Officer, 9X Media Network said, “The frequent lockdowns have had a compelling impact on the consumer behavior and hence also on the brand campaigns. At 9X Media we are geared up to embrace the new reality by providing clients with cutting-edge integrated media solutions while delivering wide reach that our Channels offer across geographies. Our platforms are an ideal happy habitat for Brands wanting to communicate with their core audiences while experiencing the Power of Music. The on-boarding of Ajay will not only ensure better client relations in the northern markets but will also help in market expansion.”     

Speaking on joining 9X Media, Ajay Bedi said, “Brands are always in search of innovative solutions to connect and engage with consumers and are also looking at extensive reach for their campaigns. 9X Media’s youth-centric content and the wide reach across HSM (Hindi Speaking Market) through popular music television channels provides Clients a great platform to have unique, purposeful, and entertaining engagements with their consumers. I look forward to working with the talented team at 9X Media in building a desirable ecosystem for the Clients’ campaigns and thereby fulfilling the revenue targets for the Network.”